The knowledge factory

Tanzania has a longstanding tradition of discourse ranging from the mundane issues of everyday life to the metaphysical questions such as the nature of God.  Much of the reason behind this tradition lies in simple historic precedence but also Tanzania’s strategic placement at the confluence of economic trade routes in the part of Africa in which it sits.

Tanzania’s location has allowed, for the most part, the interaction among a diverse group of peoples, including those from the Indian subcontinent, Middle Eastern and indeed even Europeans.  All these groups of people brought to the shores of Tanzania not only silk or guns but ideas and with it enriched the tradition of inquiry by the Tanzanian intelligentsia among other groups of Tanzanian society.

The undisputed fact is that a knowledge based economy predicates any sustained and stable economic expansion of a society.  Although a well fed population reigns supreme as a necessary foundation for the Industrial revolution, it certainly was not a sufficient condition to sustain it.  The great American economic boom post World War II, along with Japan’s economic expansion (not to mention most recently China’s growth) was indeed sustained through emphasis on innovation and technology.  At the heart of this innovative power lies not only the creative mind of the common man (and indeed woman) but a dedicated academic class.

Tanzania, due to its relative peace and stability is ideal in fostering rigorous academic research and indeed it does.  The country’s greatest institution of higher learning, the University of Dar es Salaam ranks in the top 20 universities in Africa, on average, and indeed Internet Lab ranks it 15^th in the continent, and the only university outside of South Africa and Egypt in the top 15.  In that spirit, Dar es Salaam is well endowed with the attributes needed to be a regional powerhouse in the knowledge factory that churns out great academic discourse.

As a prime example, Dar es Salaam intends to host Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa’s (CODESRIA) 3^rd Annual The Guy Mhone Conference on Development with its comprehensive theme, The Renaissance and Revival of African Economies.  The conference will be held in Dar es Salaam this December 20^th to the 21^st and invites researchers to submit abstracts and their accompanying papers for presentation at the conference covering topics such as competitiveness and revival of African economies; The industrialisation process in Africa in the face of the challenges of the global economy; The political dimension of the African renaissance and economic reforms and many others.  The deadlines for submitting abstracts are September 30^th, with the paper submission required no later than November 15^th.  Decisions on the submissions will be made known to the researchers no later than November 20^th, 2010.

Please visit this website for further information on the conference and CODESRIA.

I will not engage in the old adages preambled by the usual Wahenga walisema… but I will offer a quick quip that in order to feed the brain, let us feed the stomach and with Tanzania’s main food crops having grown at 3.5% since 1985, according to the Tanzanian government, and relatively enough ugali to go around for most (if not all) researchers, let us feed the brain as well this December with this conference.  I encourage all to participate in one way or the other.